Prime farmland disturbance from coal surface mining in the corn belt, 1980-2000

Technical Report · Sat Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6029126· OSTI ID:6029126

Bernard, D. P.

The five midwestern states that make up the Corn Belt farm production region - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio - contain about 110 billion tons of coal reserves (19% of which are surface mineable) and 110 million acres of arable land (69% of which are prime farmlands). In 1975, this region was the site of 21% of the nation's total coal production and 50% of the nation's corn and soybean harvest. Because corn and soybeans are key elements in US foreign trade and because nearly two-thirds of the regional coal production is from surface coal mines, it is important to understand the potential conflicts that may arise between the coal and agricultural industries in the Corn Belt. This report presents background data on the coal and agricultural industries in the Corn Belt states, along with the results of a quantitative analysis of the potential disruption of land and associated prime farmland due to future coal surface mining activity in the region. Estimates of potential land dusruptions indicate that 452,000 acres of land, including 127,000 acres of prime farmland, could be disturbed in the period 1980-2000. Additionally, the data indicate that certain counties in the Corn Belt states may experience impacts significantly greater than the regional average would suggest.

• Research Organization: Argonne National Lab., IL (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-31109-ENG-38
• OSTI ID: 6029126
• Report Number(s): ANL/ES-70
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010900* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Environmental Aspects
012000 -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Mining
29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290400 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Energy Resources
294001 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Coal
510500 -- Environment
Terrestrial-- Site Resource & Use Studies-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
553000 -- Agriculture & Food Technology
60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES
AGRICULTURE
CEREALS
COAL INDUSTRY
COAL MINING
COAL RESERVES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FOOD
GRAMINEAE
GRASS
GREAT LAKES REGION
ILLINOIS
INDIANA
INDUSTRY
IOWA
LAND RECLAMATION
LAND USE
LAWS
MAIZE
MIDWEST REGION
MINING
MINING LAWS
MISSOURI
NORTH AMERICA
OHIO
PLANTS
RESERVES
RESOURCES
SOYBEANS
SURFACE MINING
SURFACE MINING ACTS
TRADE
USA
VEGETABLES